I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an item of furniture, and more particularly to a frame for a futon couch/bed.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Arrangements for tilting a sofa bed between a bed position and a couch position are quite well known in the art. In bi-fold arrangements, there is provided a frame having two sections that are pivotally movable with respect to one another between a "couch" position, in which the sections are disposed at an angle to one another so as to form a seat and back rest combination, and a "bed" disposition where the two sections become coplanar and form a futon supporting surface. The couch/bed futon supporting sections are typically mounted on a base member so that the couch/bed futon supporting sections will be elevated relative to the floor. Typical of prior art futon couch/bed frames are described in the following United States patents:
______________________________________ Newton 5,485,638 Dodge 5,513,398 Stoler et al. 5,664,268 Meade 5,429,415 Fitts 5,303,432 Meade 5,170,519 Withers 5,129,114 ______________________________________
A common shortfall of the prior art futon couch/bed frames is that they typically incorporated somewhat complicated linkages for coupling the futon support segments to the base making the unit difficult to assemble and generally requiring two persons to accomplish such assembly. Moreover, the base and futon support segments in prior art futon couch/bed arrangements tend to be quite bulky when disassembled making packaging and shipping of the parts in disassembled form relatively difficult and expensive.
A need, therefore, exists for a futon couch/bed combination that has a minimum of parts and which can fit into a relatively flat carton during shipment and which can be readily assembled by a single person in only a manner of minutes. The present invention meets that need.